Alzheimer disease (AD) is characterized by an early impairment of explicit memory processes associated to a preservation of implicit memory processes (Fleischman & Gabrieli 1998). Due to the role of ... [more ▼]

Alzheimer disease (AD) is characterized by an early impairment of explicit memory processes associated to a preservation of implicit memory processes (Fleischman & Gabrieli 1998). Due to the role of explicit memory in the suppression of errors during learning, AD patients tend to reproduce automatically (implicitly) errors that occurred during a previous learning (Baddeley & Wilson, 1994). Consequently, errorless learning should be more efficient than a classical “trial-and-error” procedure for AD patients. Indeed, errorless learning decreases the involvement of (impaired) explicit memory by avoiding the interference caused by the production of errors (Bier et al., 2002). The present study investigates the automatic post-learning error production in mild AD patients and matched control subjects by using a word stem completion task (Adam et al., 2005) in conditions of both errorless and trial-and-error learning. Results showed a lower word stem completion performance in mild AD than control subjects, but a similar performance in the patients’ group for the two learning conditions. Moreover, in the trial-and-error procedure, the errors consisted mainly in erroneous responses already produced during the learning phase. In addition, correlation analyses indicate that the ability to suppress errors in the trial-and-error learning condition in mild AD patients is subtended by the efficiency of episodic memory processes, but not by inhibitory abilities. These results suggest that the errorless procedure improves the quality of learning of mild AD patients (production of fewer errors) but do not influence the learning rate per se. [less ▲]

Objectives: This study aimed to create a new French version of the Hay and Jacoby habit-training procedure (1996; 1999) and apply it to novel populations to determine the degree to which habit and ... [more ▼]

Objectives: This study aimed to create a new French version of the Hay and Jacoby habit-training procedure (1996; 1999) and apply it to novel populations to determine the degree to which habit and recollection were affected. Method: 36 young, 32 middle-aged, and 37 older adults participated in Experiment 1. 17 controls, 17 patients with amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (a-MCI), and 17 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) were involved in Experiment 2. Participants were assessed across a variety of demographic, neuropsychological and psychopathological variables (e.g., depressive affects, subjective experience of cognitive failures, interference sensitivity). The habit-training process-dissociation was used to explore the cognitive mechanisms underlying memory slips to separate the contribution of habit and recollection to memory performance. Results: The data show a very clear pattern of decreased recollection with age, F(2, 102) = 25.12, p < .001, η p2 = .197, and age-related neurological impairment, F(2, 48) = 39.22, p < .001, η p2 = .62, with intact use of habit-based memory. Additional evidence for the validity of the process estimates is provided by theoretically meaningful correlations between the process estimates and measures of attentional control (Stroop test: r = −0.40) and subjective memory complaint ( r = −0.45). Conclusions: Although likely not the same as familiarity, the data add to a growing literature suggesting that controlled forms of memory decline with age and in age-related neurological conditions (MCI and AD) whereas more automatic forms of memory (habit) remain intact. This research should improve understanding of memory complaints, preclinical and clinical dementia, and help target processes for rehabilitation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved) [less ▲]